This book examines how, in response to crises, law tends to construct
singular ‘events’ that obscure the underlying structural causes
that any adequate response needs to acknowledge and address.
Litigation is the main legal process that constructs events through a
narrative that describes what happened and prescribes what should
happen. Courts are theatres with competing stories and intense
controversies. The legal event is compelling. But, through the
examination of several cases from a range of jurisdictions, this book
argues that the ability to construct and reconstruct legal events is
so strong, appealing, and powerful that it limits our ability to
engage in structural analysis. The difficulty of seeing beyond what is
here called ‘the event horizon of legality’ interprets aspects of
life as exceptional rather than structural, as it focuses attention on
a limited range of possible causes, and so a limited range of possible
interventions. So, if issues like famine, obesity, poverty, a rising
cost of living, and climate change are even partially produced through
non-eventful modalities of power, like colonialism, imperialism, or
global capitalism, then, as this book analyzes, the event horizon of
legality can only ensure that those issues continue. The book
therefore calls for a critical re-evaluation of the role of law in
shaping our representation of, and response, to crises; and so, for a
rethinking of the power and promise of law. This original analysis of
the operation of law will appeal to sociolegal scholars and legal
theorists, as well as others working in relevant areas in critical and
social theory.
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The Event Horizon of Legality
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781040092040
Publisert
2024
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Taylor & Francis
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter